The present invention relates to an electrical shell connector reinforcement means and more particularly to a reinforcement means which structurally supports the bayonet pins and bayonet grooves of the electrical connector shell and coupling ring, respectively.
Electrical connectors for the coupling of electrical cables having multiple terminations such as individual leads, are well known. Such multi-lead connectors are used in electronic systems to electrically couple the individual components from those systems together. In, for example, aircraft systems, military vehicles and the like, these connectors must operate in a high degree of reliability. They must not fail in severe climatic, vibrational, or electrical interference environments. Unfortunately, despite the many types of connector designs now available, connectors are still subject to failures due to these factors. A failure of the individual electrical connector can result in the failure of an entire electrical system.
To address these failure problems, various programs have been initiated to implement retrofits which prevent failures before they happen. It is still, however, an object of the art to obtain a connector which would have increased reliability and decreased failure rate due to stress forces, vibration, climatic conditions or environmental changes, all providing a high degree of electromagnetic shielding.
Bayonet connectors which incorporate a first electrical connector shell having bayonet pins implemented upon the exterior surface of the first connector shell operable to slidably interfit a second cylindrical electrical connector shell and further to be coupled incorporating a coupling ring which is operable to receive the bayonet pins of the first cylindrical connector shell, are well known.
In the bayonet electrical shell connector configuration, the greatest stress forces to which the exterior surface of the first connector shell are subjected, occurs at the stress points behind the bayonet pins. Further, the interaction of the environment incorporating vibrational stresses, temperature changes and the like produce the potential for failure due to these forces as they act upon the individual bayonet pins which are slidably interconnected within the bayonet grooves lining the interior surface of the coupling ring.
The weakest portion of the first connector shell is the surface directly beneath the bayonet pins. In, for example, a first electrical connector shell formulated of a composite material, the metal pins may be, for example, ball-peened into place and the area directly surrounding them would be a composite interacting with their metal nature. Alternately, the bayonet pins when comprised of a composite material may be molded into place or pressed into the composite connector shell after fabrication of the shell.
It would be advantageous to provide additional mechanical support to the bayonet pins without enlarging their size or changing their chemical composition.
Further, it would be advantageous to strengthen the overall annular mating of the first connector shell and the second connector shell through the coupling ring by the incorporation of reinforced bayonet grooves without radically changing the size or configuration of the standard coupling ring.
It is therefore an objective of the art to obtain a connector which has an increased immunity to stress failure as a result of vibration, environmental conditions or physical abuse while providing an improved degree of electromagnetic shielding.